Rangers' wait to discover their fate to continue until July 12

The Scottish Premier League will not deny the Rangers newco entry to the top
division today, Telegraph Sport understands. They will again defer
their decision until after the Scottish Football League clubs decide on July
12 whether they will accept Charles Green’s Sevco consortium into the first
division.

Waiting game: Rangers fans have been left hanging on after Monday's SPL meetingPhoto: PA

However, the possibility remains that Rangers could be admitted if they accept a number of conditions, including sanctions.

One condition was that Rangers should issue a public apology for past misdemeanours - which was duly delivered by the club’s chairman, Malcolm Murray, on Tuesday, when he said: “Ally McCoist, the staff and players have nothing to apologise for but the club needs to make an apology.

"It is only right that someone at Rangers expresses our sorrow and regret. On behalf of the new board of directors, I apologise unreservedly to all for the distress, disruption and difficulty inflicted on the football community, caused entirely by the actions of people who failed miserably to act responsibly during their stewardship of Rangers.

“All of Scottish football is now having to live with the consequences of that behaviour and every true Rangers fan will consider it a matter of deep regret that events at our club in the past have been the root cause of an extremely difficult time for Scottish football.”

The 30 SFL clubs met on Tuesday at Hampden Park to contemplate their options but even while their representatives were still making their way into the stadium, Turnbull Hutton, the Raith Rovers chairman who previously stated that his club would vote against Rangers being admitted to the first division, was in combustible mood.

“We are being lied to by the Scottish FA and the SPL. We are being threatened and bullied. It is not football as I know it,” said Hutton. “What kind of game are we running here? It is corrupt.”

Hutton will almost certainly find himself on a disrepute charge once the SFA compliance officer studies his remarks and he was certainly more muted after the presentation made to the SFL clubs by Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster, the chief executives of the SFA and SPL respectively. Three scenarios were examined - Rangers in the SPL, in the first division and in the third division.

It was wrongly and persistently reported on Tuesday that Regan had stated that the SFA board would not countenance the Rangers newco being admitted into the SPL. What Regan told the meeting was that the national association would not approve Rangers being granted entry on the sole ground of their financial impact on the league and that other factors - particularly change in the structure of the game north of the border - would be crucial.

In a clarification issued by the SFA on Tuesday night, Regan said: “The Scottish FA was invited to participate in today’s meeting of the SFL’s members at Hampden Park. During a positive and productive meeting, a number of detailed scenarios were discussed regarding the future status of Rangers FC as a newco club.

“Unfortunately, a comment relating to one potential scenario - Rangers FC’s readmission to the SPL - was distorted, taken out of context and leaked to the media by a member. For the avoidance of doubt, any decision regarding the future status of Rangers FC requires not only the transfer of the SPL share but the transfer of the SFA’s membership. The SFA board will approve this only when all relevant information has been provided and the directors are satisfied that the solution presented is in the best interests of Scottish football.”

As to the prospect of Rangers having to play their way back through all three SFL divisions, Regan described the option to the meeting as “a lingering death” for the Scottish game. He again emphasised that the option most favoured by the SFA is entry for the new Rangers to the first division as part of a package of reform measures.

“I think people who had one thing in their minds this morning might have a different thing in their minds now, because there was so much clarity and so much information that we’re going to have to go home and digest that,” Scott Gardiner, the Dundee chief executive, said afterwards.

David Longmuir, the SFL chief executive, said: “The most important outcome from today is that the clubs now feel they are in a much more informed position to go back to their own boards and their supporters and make informed decisions that take all the key elements into account.

“They need time to reflect on the scenarios and consequences of the different scenarios. In that respect, the meeting was very forthright but what came across is that people care about the future of the game and they will all be in a better position when we come together again next week. It doesn’t matter how the situation and the crisis happened. What matters is how we make our decision, because that will have a massive impact on the future of the game.”

The possibility that Rangers could be included in next season’s SPL fixtures was not wholly dead on Tuesday night. Although six SPL clubs have stated that they would vote against the newco being granted entry to the top division, there is evidence of a rethink in some quarters after consideration of how much the drop in income for a league without Rangers would affect them.

In the event that Rangers had to apply for admission to the third division, the withdrawal of the current TV deals would put three clubs - St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Motherwell - in immediate peril, with Dundee United also vulnerable. The St Mirren chairman, Stewart Gilmour, on Tuesday told a meeting of the club’s shareholders and season-ticket holders that if the SPL TV contracts are annulled the Paisley side would probably be the next to suffer insolvency. “In that circumstance there is every likelihood that St Mirren will be administration by the end of September,” he said.

In the briefing document sent to SFL clubs last week, the figure estimated to be lost to the Scottish game if Rangers were to drop out of the SPL for three seasons was £16 million per annum. Some have expressed scepticism about the scale of the potential damage but the breakdown of the figures as disclosed to the Telegraph is £7.5 million – the combination paid by ESPN directly and by the Sportfive agency through sales of overseas TV rights – plus an estimated reduction of £4.5 million in Sky Sports fees and £4 million in sponsorships at league and club level.

The SPL clubs had planned to convene at Kilmarnock on Tuesday night ahead of a special general meeting but the gathering was cancelled. Instead, there will be more confabs on Wednesday morning, before the 10am start.

Celtic are isolated on the question of voting rights on substantive issues. The Old Firm clubs voted as a pair on every financial issue and, under the current requirement of an 11-1 majority required for change, effectively exercised a veto.

The other clubs - the Gang of 10 - intend to use this opportunity to force through a mandatory majority of 9-3. Celtic fear that this will be used by the other clubs to force through such measures as sharing gate receipts - a substantial resource for both them and Rangers - although the non-Old Firm chairmen say that their intent is solely to ensure a redistribution of TV money, which is a much smaller element of the Glasgow clubs’ turnover.

Telegraph Sport revealed last week that there is support for a move to a 16-team SPL. It was learned on Tuesday night that the proposal is for one team relegated and three promoted next season and the same again for the 2013-14 campaign.